Michael Salmeri

Eileen Morris

Pols 155

Levi Watts

Talking Points

Policy Area​:​ ​Firearm Policy

Specific Policy Problem (issue)​:

It is too accessible for people with mental illnesses, and or being on

psychiatric/antidepressant medications, to acquire firearms.

Preliminary Policy Solution​:

I would like to see the government implement a regulation in which someone who

is currently on some sort of psychiatric medication, most specifically SSRI medications,

becomes subject to a mental screening beyond the usual background check.

First Argument

Nearly every mass shooting in the last 20 years has one thing in common, which

is that the shooters were all actively on or having withdrawals from psychiatric drugs like

antidepressants. People may rebuttal by stating that there are millions of people who

are on the same medications but to not cause great harm onto others, particularly with

firearms. This does not change the fact that an alarming amount of mass shootings are
committed by people who are on these specific pharmaceutical drugs, which in turn

must lead to further regulations to prevent this from happening in the future.

Second Argument

My second argument being, that sometimes, SSRIs go beyond improving mood

and make a person feel too little emotion. The opposing side may argue this by saying

that the majority of people taking the most commonly prescribed antidepressants,

selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), improve substantially. But sometimes,

this lack of emotion due to the medication may lead one to become numb to doing

harm. Many people who take antidepressants no longer have feelings comparable to

average people, and this is what may lead mass shooters to cause harm on so many

people without feeling any remorse. This is why having extra mental health

examinations for people on these sorts of medications may lead to a decrease in guns

being put in the wrong hands, while still allowing ‘normal’ people access to firearms.

Interest Groups​:

interest group that supports my policy solution

Giffords Law Center is an interest group that is, “​the nation’s leading policy

organization dedicated to researching, writing, enacting, and defending proven laws and

programs, is on a mission to save lives from gun violence by shifting culture, changing

policies, and challenging injustice.​” They work at the local, state and federal levels to

fight for safer gun rights and to work towards better mental health reporting. They have

a mass dinner event every June where many like minded individuals, including many

well known people, come together and speak to explain why things need to change so
that firearms are in safer hands. Also, Gifford’s Law Center is currently providing critical

support for the enactment of legislation at the local, state and federal levels so that gun

safety measures are improved while infringement on the second amendment is avoided.

interest group that opposes my policy solution

PhRMA is an interest group that supports the advocacy for public policies that

encourage the discovery of important, new medicines for patients by biopharmaceutical

research companies. They are largely in favor of pharmaceutical medications and are

devoted to developing medicine. This group will oppose further mental health

examinations for people on psychiatric drugs because they believe that the research

has already been done to prove that these drugs will not lead to mass murders. If

further research is done and studies show that correlation this interest group may suffer

through the loss of people supporting antidepressants. On April 18th, 2017 they held an

event called Future Shapers: New Cures, New Innovators for a New Era in Mental

Health. This event was held to have conversations with medical experts on the future

correlation between mental health and biopharmaceutical innovation. They are also

working towards FDA Modernization so that they may work towards a more competitive,

innovative and sustainable ecosystem. This will hopefully make it so that new medicines

are safer for mental health.

Government Officials and Agencies​:

Xavier Becerra, head director of the Bureau of Firearms, which works at the state

level. He was appointed by Governor Jerry Brown. His bureau would be very important

to get a hold of regarding mental health and prescription drug examinations, before
purchasing a firearm, in our state of California. The Bureau of US Alcohol, Tobacco &

Firearms (ATF) at the federal level is headed by Thomas Brandon. I would contact this

agency because they are the major enforcers of how people obtain weapons, so they

would be the main people to prevent people with mental health issues from obtaining

guns.
 REFERENCES

“Spree Shooting/Stabbing/Attack.” ​SSRI Stories​,

ssristories.org/category/violence/spree-shooting-stabbing-attack/.

Publishing, H. (2018). ​Is your antidepressant making life a little too blah? - Harvard

Health​. Harvard Health.

https://www.health.harvard.edu/depression/is-your-antidepressant-making-life-a-little-too-blah​.

Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. (2018). Giffords Law Center to Prevent

Gun Violence. http://lawcenter.giffords.org/

Phrma. (2018). PhRMA - Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.

https://www.phrma.org/.

State of California - Department of Justice - Office of the Attorney General. (2018).

Bureau of Firearms. https://oag.ca.gov/firearms.

Atf.gov. (2018). ATF Home Page | Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and

Explosives. https://www.atf.gov/.